Eggless Gulab Jamun Cupcake

I was actually looking for eggless Gila jamun cake for a friend of mine. Did some enquiries with few bakers friends and none are baking eggless gulab jamun cake. That the time I thought why not I try baking one and the outcome is this gorgeous cuppies. Since I'm the one who in-charge of the turn out in my kitchen instead ordinary of gulab jamun cake baked eggless mini gulab jamun cheesecake.

This is baked cheesecake,yet to try the no-bake version but I'm sure both are equally good. I have some leftover Oreo cookies crumb which I used as base this delicious cake which enhance the richness in flavor. Digestive biscuit or oats cookies crumbs works well too. In my case,  the Oreo crumbs add flavours and the colour contrast of beautiful black and yellow. Admire the royal yellow in my cupcake? Credit goes to the saffron soaked milk..a little goes a long way in this recipe.

You may use store bought or homemade gulab jamun just make sure to get the best jamun in the market for the ultimate taste. The cake has almost all the elements of gulab jamun which made it into fusion dessert. Perfect to serve for festivies seasons for family and friends and definitely an eye catcher on any desserts table. 

Ingredients 

For The Crust 

1/2 cup Oreo cookies crumb

1/4 cup melted butter

For The Cheesecake Filling

1/2 cup cream cheese,room temperature 

3/4 cup condensed milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

12 gulab jamun 

1 tsp rose water

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp warm milk

Pinch of saffron strands 

2 tbsp chopped pistachio 

Rose petals for garnishing 

Silver foils

Methods 

For The Crust

Preheat oven at 170'c and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with cupcake liners.  

Combine Oreo cookies crumb and butter. Mix well and spoon out 2 tablespoon and press firmly into the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let it to cool.

For The Filling

In a small bowl add warm milk and saffron, stir and keep it aside. 

Using a hand or stand mixer beat the cream cheese for 30 seconds. Add the condensed milk and heavy. Beat till fluffy.

Beat in lemon juice,saffron milk and rose water. Beat till combined and do not overmix.

Pour the batter equally into the pre-baked biscuits layer of the  cupcake liners. Place the gulab jamun in the center of the cupcake.

Bake at 20-22 minutes in 165'C oven. Switch off the oven and let cake sit inside of the oven for 30-35 minutes.

Cool them completely before refrigerate for 3 hours. 

Garnish with chopped pistachio,silver foils and rose petals before serving. 

Crinkle Cake

 

I don't have a Tik Tok account somehow a friend of mine shared this particular cake in my what's app to give it a try. I was amazed at how easy they process and baked my own.  Other than phyllo pastry all the other ingredients are something you can find in your everyday pantry. As for me,  I had a ready stock of phyllo pastry and I quickly get into work. 

As posh as the cake might look or at least at first glance I thought it might be extremely difficult to bake but,  trust me it was an easy peas even for a beginner. Just scrunch the dough to form the crinkles and walla you're are done with the "art" 😁. Not sure why it was called as crinkle cake I would rather call it crinkle pastry. 

It was more to Mediterranean ellements in the cake with the usage of phyllo pastry and drizzling of sugar sugar. The original sugar syrup calls for simple syrup but I made a twist to it by adding cinnamon stick and cardamom pods which enhance the flavou.

I shared the cake with my Dandelion's classmates and all I received is praises alone. Indeed it was a delicious and flavourful cake to cherish among family and friends.

Ingredients 

1 package of phyllo pastry,  defrost

1/2 cup water 

1 cup milk 

2 large eggs 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup melted butter

2 cups sugar, divided 

1 cinnamon stick

2 pods cardamom 

2 tbsp chopped pistachio 

Methods

Preheat oven at 350'F or 175'C and line a 13x9 inch baking tray with parchment paper.

Take 2 sheets of phyllo dough, hold both ends fold them into crinkle by scrunching about an inch thick.

 Place in the prepared baking pan with the folds facing up. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and stack till the tray are full. Bake for 10 minutes. 

Remove from oven and drizzle evenly with melted butter. Bake for another 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk in sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla extract.

Remove the crinkle from the oven and pour over the egg milk mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes. 

In a pan boil the remaining 1 cup sugar, water,cinnamon stick and cardamom pods over medium heat for 10 minutes or till the mixture thickened. Turn off the heat.

Remove the crinkle cake from oven and drizzle with the sugar sugar. Let it rest for 1 hour for the syrup to absorb.

Sprickle with chopped pistachio, slice and serve.

Bengali Fish Curry

Bengalis love their fish. Be it on curry, fried fish or grilled fish they just devour their fish dishes.  As much as them,  I love fish as well and anything with fish I'm in it. During one of the weekend when I did my marketing I was participating looking for pomfret having in mind to dish out this Bengali fish curry. 

Found this beautiful white pomfret and came back to cook this delicious curry. Unlike the regular fish curry,  this gorgeous looking curry required very little spices and easy steps to prepare. Do not skip mustard oil in the process as it's lend the much needed nutty flavour and enhance the base of the curry. Serve with hot white rice for a maximum taste. 

Ingredients 

5 pieces pomfret, wash & cleaned 

4 green chillies 

1 large onion, chopped 

1 large tomato,chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp turmeric powder 

1/2 tsp Nigella seeds 

1 tsp cumin powder

1 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilly powder 

1/2 tsp sugar 

1 1/3 cups water 

Handful chopped coriander leaves 

4 tbsp mustard oil

Salt to season 

Methods

Marinate the fish with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt for an hour. 

Grind the tomato, onion & garlic into coarse paste. 

Heat oil in a pan and fry the fish till golden brown. Transfer to a plate line with kitchen towel. 

In the same pan add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter add green chillies ,ground onion tomato paste. Cook for 3-4 minutes till oil started to separate.

Add chilly powder, cumin powder,sugar and remaining 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. Add 2-3 tbsp water and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Add 1 1/4 cups of water and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the fried fish and keep cooking for 4-5 minutes. 

Add the chopped coriander leaves and switch off the heat.

Serve with hot white rice. 

Jackfruit Butter Cake

 

It's a jackfruit season here and I found this beautiful fruit everywhere on the street vendors. I bought them from my regular fruit vendor and  after consuming on its own the remaining went into baking this delicious jackfruit butter cake. 

Do use good quality butter for the perfect butter cake and make sure all the ingredients are in room temperature. If you noticed I didn't use vanilla extract in my cake as the naturally jackfruit have a beautiful aroma on its own. For the rich jackfruit flavor I added chopped jackfruit and pureed jackfruit as well. 

Next time when you have abundance of jackfruit, do try bake this aromatic, rich and buttery jackfruit cake to woo your family and friends. Perfect to serve for tea and party as well.

Ingredients 

250g butter, room temperature 

180g castor sugar

210g self raising flour,sifted

4 large eggs, room temperature 

100g jackfruit pulp, chopped

100g jackfruit puree

1/3 cup milk, room temperature 

Few slices of jackfruit pull, cut lenghtwise

Methods

Preheat oven at 170'c and line an 8"inch baking tray with parchment paper. Keep aside.

Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy. 

Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat on each addition. Add the 1/4 of flour and  beat.  Pour in 1/2 milk in continue to beat for 2 seconds. Add another 1/4 part of flour and beat for 2 seconds.  Pour off the remaining milk and beat for another 2 seconds.  Add the remaining flour,jackfruit pulp and jackfruot puree.  Beat till just combine.

Pour the batter into prepared baking tray. Arrange with sliced jackfruit pulp.  Bake for 45 minutes or a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool on tray for 20 minutes before transfering to cool completely on the wire rack.

Slice and serve with hot coffee or tea. 

Silver Dollar Pancake

 

Pancake in any form or flavour is Dandelions all time favourite breakfast be it on weekdays or weekends. Pancakes is one of their school breakfast box menu as well with berries and honey. It's easy to prepare for the weekdays rush with simple everyday ingredients.

Known as silver dollar pancake this,  cute little pancake resembles the size of a dollar. It's perfect for brunch, birthday parties or as pancake kabobs. It's easy to dish out to toddlers as no knife or fork needed to enjoy this cutie. This silver dollar pancake can be made in variation of flavours and different toppings or fruits and berries. 

I made with basic ingredients without any variation and it's tastes excellent. I tried few variations later for Dandelions weekend breakfast with chocolate chips,blueberries,pepperoni and cheese and tastes as good as it is. Will definitely be in our breakfast or brunch menu in the future as well.

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp granulated white sugar

4 tbsp butter

1 1/4 cups whole milk

Methods

In a large bowl, add flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Whisk to combine.

In another bowl, whisk milk and egg.  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk till no lumps. 

Heat butter in a girdle, scoop 3/4 tablespoon batter and cook till the edges dry up and tiny bubbles appeared.

Gently flip and cook on the other side.  Repeat with the remaining batter. 

Serve with your favorite toppings and fruits/berries.

Anardhana Chicken

 

When I saw some chicken drumstick in the market, I know instantly what I'm gonna cook with those beauties. Beautiful legs deserves all the goodness of specials. Grabbed some of those sexy drumsticks and as always I have vibrant red ruby Indian pomegranate waiting for some action. Cutting, chopping, mixing,stirring and walla such a mesmerizing chicken dish waiting to dig in. 

This recepi originated from Himachal Pradesh, India and cooked in my little hut and I shall say one of the best chicken dish amazed me. I just love the color of the gravy and the thick consistency . No water added,  as the chicken gets cooked in it's own juices. If you prefer more gravy do add water to adjust the consistency.

This chicken gravy also known as Anardhana chicken or pomegranate chicken slowly cooked in dried pomegranate seeds but,  I added a little of fresh pomegranate juice for an extra kick. It's tart, juicy, tangy and little hint of sweetness. The pomegranate rendered an unique flavor and helps to tenderize the chicken. Serve with rice or bread and I'm sure you'll love my pomegranate chicken.

Ingredients 

1kg chicken, cleaned

4 tbsp dried pomegranate powder

3 tbsp pomegranate juice

1 cup plain yogurt 

1 1/2 tbsp coriander powder 

1 1/2 tbsp chilly powder 

1 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste 

1/2 tsp turmeric powder 

Salt to taste 

For The Gravy

5 green cardamoms,coarsely pound

5 cloves,coarsely pound 

2 black cardamoms

1"inch cinnamon stick 

1 tsp garam masala 

2 bay leaves 

2 large onions,chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped 

1/2"inch ginger, chopped 

3 tbsp ghee

1/4 cups fresh pomegranate seeds

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves 

Methods

In a large bowl, add all the ingredients listed under "For Marination". Mix till the chicken are well coated with the marination. Cover with cling wrap and  let it rest for 1-2 hours.

In a pan, heat ghee over medium flame and saute cinnamon stick, bay leaves, green and black cardamoms and cloves. 

Add the chopped ginger and garlic saute for 10-15 seconds.

Add the onion and saute till the onion turns lightly browned.

Add the marinated chicken with all the marination ingredients and saute for 5-7 minutes. 

Cover with lid and cook for 25-30 minutes by stirring occasionally.

Add garam masala and stir. Cook the chicken for another 5-7 minutes and till oil started to appear on the surface. 

Remove from heat and sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves and fresh pomegranate seeds.

Serve with white rice,roti or naan.

Persian Chickpea Cookies

This is definitely one of my favourite cookies. Nokhodchi known as traditional Persian cookies with the hint of cardamom and rose water are too good to resist. Simple recepi for an amateur baker to try their hands on cookies. Easy to follow methods of course. No beating, no room temperature ingredients,no whisking just mix,roll and bake. 

Roasting the chickpea flour are truly optional but, trust me that little roasting goes a long way to create a nice aroma and nutty flavour to the cookies.  I tried to bake with both version of roasting flour and raw flour,  I shall say I'll go with the earlier one. 

You may use olive oil or butter but ghee takes this cookies to the next level. This cuties are sinfully decadent. Melt in your mouth texture with wonderful fragrance of Middle East I truly devour each bite of it. Serve with a cuppa of tea or coffee and store the remaining in an airtight container. 

Ingredients

1 cup besan/chickpea flour 

1/4 cup ghee 

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

1/3 cup confectioners sugar 

1/3 tsp rose water

2 tbsp chopped pistachio 

2 tbsp rose petals, crushed 

Methods

Over a medium low heat,  roast the chickpea flour for 1-2 minutes making sure not to burn the flour. Once a nice aroma comes thru, switched off the flame and transfer to a large bowl. Add cardamom powder and confectioners sugar to the roasted chickpea flour. Mix well. 

Add the ghee and rub into the flour mixture to form a sandy mixture. Knead well till the dough comes together. Add the rose water and knead for 1 minute. 

Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let it rest for 1-2 hours. 

Preheat oven and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Lightly dust a clean working surface with chickpea flour and using a rolling pin,  toll the dough into 1/2 inches thick. 

Using a cookie cutter of your preference and cut out the dough. Place onto the prepared baking tray garnish with rose petals and chopped pistachio. Bake 12-15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for 10 minutes. 

Serve with a cuppa of tea or coffee.

Salted Egg Cornflakes

I first tasted salted egg cornflakes ordered by my colleague. Instantly loved thé unique taste if salty,sweet and mildly spice combo. Requested my friend to order 2 tubs for me and brought back home to share. Everyone loved the salted egg cornflakes and that's when i want to try to make my own. It tooks so long for me to the recepi...haish.. 

Simple and easy recepi, quick to make with very little ingrédients. This recepi doesn' require salt as, salted egg yolk and chicken cube are salty enough. Thé baking process is to produce crispy and crunchy cornflakes. Store in an airtight container.

Ingredients 

400g cornflakes

200g butter

16 pcs salted egg yolks

10-12 pcs bird eye chilly

3 sprig curry leaves

200g caster sugar 

1 chicken cube, mashed

Methods

Steam the salted egg and remove the yolks. Mashed the yolks finely.

Melt butter in the wok and fry the mashed yolks with continious stirring till foamy.

Add the curry leaves,chicken cube,bird eye chilly and sugar. Cook for 4 minutes.

Add thé cornflakes ans stir till thé mixture well coated. Switch off the heat.

Spread the cornflakes mixture onto à baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 5 minutes in 180'C pré-heated oven.

Remove from oven and cool it to room température before storing in a air tight container. 

Beeetroot Cutlet

I bought 2 large beeetroots which i totally forgot about it's existence till, one fine Sunday bounce upon them. Quickly, idea of making bertroot cutlet came to mind. Grabbed some potato,cheese and other ingredients,mix,shaped,refrigerate and deep fried. Walla gorgeous piping hot beetroot cutlet ready to serve as à side dish for our Sunday lunch.

This delicious beetroot cutlet goes well as evening snack too. Children will love thé vibrant red colur if this dish and thé cheesy taste as well. Perfect way to make sure kids have their vegetables without much fuss.

As the potato and beeetroot already boiled before hand, thé frying process takes less than 5 minutes to produce crispy,crunch,cheesy beetroot cutlet. Lightly spiced and feel free to play around thé spiciness of chilly according to your heat préférence. 

Methods

1 cup boiled & grated beetroot

1 cup boiled & grated potato 

1 cup grated cheddar cheese 

1 tsp cumin powder 

1/4 chilly powder

1/4 tsp ground black pepper 

1/3 tsp dried mango powder 

2 tbsp chopped onion 

1 chilly, chopped

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves 

2 tbsp corn starch 

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Vegetable oil for frying 

Methods 

In a bowl ada cornflour and water to form à semi thick batter.

In a large bowl add boiled potato,beetroot,cumin powder,chilly powder,dried mango powder,ground black people, chopped onion,chilly,ginger garlic paste,coriander leaves and salt.

Take a lemon sized ball, flatten and put some grated cheese. Seal into smooth ball. 

Dip into the cornflour mixture and roll IT over breadcrumb to coat.

Repeat with thé remaining and refrigerate for 15-20 minute. 

Heat oil in a wok over à medium heat and deep dry for 3-4 minutes till golden on both sides.

Serve with lemon wedges and ketchup.

Oreo Milkshake

 

Milkshake are always a hit at my home and this particular Oreo milkshake is Dandelions favourite. Who doesn't like Oreo cookies right? I always stock Oreo cookies for Dandelions snacking and made my own cookie crumbs by putting some in the food processor. Oreo cookies crumbs comes handy as most of my cheesecake base.  

I have some leftover cookie crumbs from my gulab jamun cheesecake and it went straight into garnishing my Oreo milkshake for texture and taste. You may use vanilla ice-cream for the recipe but to enhance the flavour of the Oreo cookies I added cookies and cream ice-cream which is an excellent choice. 

Easy,simple,hassle free, creamy, smooth and rich Oreo milkshake to serve on hot weather. It's a bliss on every sip. 

Ingredients 

5 scoops cookies and cream icecream

3/4 cup whole milk

5 pics Oreo cookies 

Whipped cream 

Oreo crumbs 

Methods

In a blender combine cookies and cream ice-cream, whole milk and Oreo cookies. 

Blend till smooth and creamy. Pour into serving glass. 

Top with whipped cream and Oreo cookies crumbs. 

Serve immediately.

Amma's Signature Mutton Curry

It's Sunday and as usual it's a special lunch day just like any other households. Today we visited our mom and she cooked for us her signature mutton curry. The whole cooking process happened in pressure cooker which minus the stove cleaning task 😁. This recepi calls for aromatic Indian spices and not so Indian herbs which we local called as daun pandan aka pandan leaf or screwpine leaf. The main reason for adding pandan leaf to the recipient are for it's aromatic nature.

This mutton curry are thick, spicy and full of flavor. The spiciness comes from the all spice and green chilly. Since we all are heat tolerable people it suits our palate. In fact for spicy freak I've me it was actually mild but if you're not like me this is a bit on spicy side. No coconut milk added to the recipe, the thickness comes from the added masala and ground paste. No water added as well as mutton tend to release water while cooking and pureed tomato helps too. We serve this Anna's special mutton gravy with Mid Eastern blue barberry rice and cucumber raita for a hearty Sunday family lunch ❤

Ingredients 

To Marinate 

1kg mutton with bone

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp chilly powder

Ground Paste

4 large onions

6 cloves garlic 

2"inch ginger

For The Gravy

4 tomatoes,pureed

1 large onion, sliced

4 green chillies,slit

3 tbsp meat masala

1 1/2 tsp coriander powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp red chilly powder

1 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt to season 

3 cardamom pods 

1"inch cinnamon stick

4 pcs cloves 

1 bay leaf

1 screwpine leaf

1 tsp fennel seeds

Handful chopped coriander leaves 

Methods

In a large bowl, wash and marinate mutton with ingredients listed under "To Marinate". Marinate for 1 hour. 

Heat oil in a pressure cooker, sautee cloves,cinnamon stick, bay leaf, screwpine leaf, fennel seeds and cardamom pods.

Add the ingredients listed under "Ground Paste" and saute till fragrant.

Add the green chilly, meat masala, chilly powder,coriander powder and cumin powder. Saute for one minute. 

Add the pureed tomato and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the marinated mutton and season with salt. Stir well. 

Pressure cook the mutton for 6 whistles and turn off the heat. Once all the pressure released,  add the chopped coriander leaves (reserve some for garnishing).

Stir and serve with rice or roti.